Tag Archives: walking

Set Goals To Help You Become Healthier This Holiday Season

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Many Americans do not get enough physical activity or eat a healthful diet. Let’s begin to change that during this holiday season. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges everyone to set goals aimed at improving their health and getting a new start on resolutions for the year to come.

The CDC suggests that you:

  1. Stay active. Being active can help make up for eating more than usual and has many other health benefits. Walking is a great way to be active. To incorporate more of walking into your routine park farther away from the store or office building and walk to your destination; take a few extra laps around the mall; or start your work day by taking the stairs.
  2. Eat healthy. Seek balance. You can enjoy your favorite foods even if they are high in calories, saturated fat, or added sugars. The key is eating them only once in a while or in small portions and balancing them out with healthier foods.
  3. Engage in activities that don’t involve eating. In addition to enjoying a meal with friends and family around the table, take the party outside and try a seasonal activity such as ice skating or take a walk downtown. If the weather prevents you from being outside, try mall-walking or visit a museum or botanical garden.

Adding a few new healthy traditions to your schedule can make a world of difference for the remainder of this year and next.

Visit the CDC’s website for more information on tips to help you be your healthiest self this holiday season.

Walkable Communities: A Statewide Snapshot of Pedestrian Planning Efforts

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By Kelly Kavanugh, MPH, CHES
Active Living Consultant
Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity

In 2015, the U.S. Surgeon General released a Call to Action to promote walking and walkable communities as a means to address the growing obesity epidemic in America. DHEC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) is working to address the Surgeon General’s recommendations in South Carolina by encouraging communities to consider pedestrians in planning efforts.What is a pedestrian plan?

A pedestrian plan includes design recommendations that create a safe, healthy, and efficient environment for pedestrian commuting and recreation.

Image by Taylor Jacobs via Attribution Engine. Licensed under CC0.


Why pedestrian plans?

Communities that have a pedestrian or bicycle/pedestrian plan demonstrate purposeful insight to accommodate for pedestrians, which better positions the communities to apply for implementation and infrastructure funding. Pedestrian plans also provide a vision for the community and demonstrate community buy-in and sustainability.

What did we do?

In order to develop more walkable communities, DNPAO needed to first determine the number of pedestrian plans that currently exist across the state. Working with John M. Newman Planning, all SC jurisdictions (46 counties and 270 municipalities) were surveyed on their pedestrian planning efforts. Sixty-two percent of jurisdictions (35 counties and 161 municipalities) responded to the survey. Key findings indicate that of those jurisdictions which responded to the survey:

  • 7% have adopted a pedestrian or bicycle/pedestrian plan
  • 6% of counties and 11.2% of municipalities are currently developing a pedestrian plan
  • 2% of jurisdictions intend to develop a pedestrian plan within the next five years
  • 9% of adopted plans include access to healthy foods

Now what?

The information gathered from this survey will provide DHEC and other agencies such as the South Carolina Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Planning Organizations, the Councils of Governments, the S.C. Association of Counties, and the Municipal Association of S.C. a snapshot of county and municipal pedestrian planning efforts across the state. The inventory data will help to identify current and future pedestrian planning needs of S.C. communities so that more thoughtful technical assistance can be provided.

How can other DHEC program areas use this information?

  • DHEC Region community health teams can use the information to determine the different stages of pedestrian planning within their communities.
  • TheDivision of Healthy Aging can assist local jurisdictions that are creating infrastructure for pedestrians with implementing the Walk With Ease Program.
  • The Bureau of Air Quality can work with communities who have adopted a pedestrian plan to consider other programs to improve air quality and quality of life in general.
  • The Division of Injury and Violence Prevention can help to identify areas that could benefit from a pedestrian plan based on previous Safe Routes to School transportation safety observations. The Division can also help new communities who may be seeking to develop pedestrian plans by helping to address safety concerns.
  • The Office of Community Health Improvement can help new communities who may be seeking to develop a pedestrian plan by identifying opportunities for coordination and integration.

To access the snapshots, please see the links below.

Statewide: http://www.scdhec.gov/library/CR-011747.pdf

County: http://www.scdhec.gov/library/CR-011843.pdf

Municipality: http://www.scdhec.gov/library/CR-011844.pdf

Helping S.C. Communities Increase Access to Physical Activity Opportunities

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By Kelly Kavanaugh, MPH, CHES – Active Living Consultant, DHEC Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity 

Being physically active is one of the most important steps that people of all ages and abilities can take to improve their health. In South Carolina, the Active Community Environments (ACE) Special Project is taking action to improve access and opportunities for physical activity throughout the state.

The counties of Barnwell, Colleton, Greenwood, Lexington, Newberry, and Richland were recently recognized by Eat Smart Move More South Carolina and the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control for increasing access to safe physical activity through the ACE Special Project.

ACE Recognition Event

Recognition event celebrating the six counties.

Bikeway in greenwood

A cyclist uses designated crossings in Greenwood.

Some of the project strategies included: installing road signs; creating bike lanes and bike boulevards; improving school safety with fencing and crossing guard equipment; and creating master bicycle and pedestrian plans for future community improvements. The six projects took place from May 2014 – June 2015 and lessons learned will be used to assist other communities that want to create physical activity options for their residents.

“We are so impressed with what these six ACE communities have accomplished and are excited to see their continued progress,” said Lori Phillips, MPH, MCHES, director of DHEC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. “We are working to implement similar efforts in up to 15 counties across the state.”

The focus of the ACE Special Project was for communities to consider the impact of community design on active living. The program aligns with Step It Up! The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Promote Walking and Walkable Communities. One of the Call to Action’s five strategic goals is to design communities that make it safe and easy for people of all ages and abilities to walk.

The Riverwalk in Cayce improves access to walkable parks and paths,

The Riverwalk in Cayce improves access to walkable parks and paths,

“The Surgeon General’s Call to Action is a landmark event in the ongoing effort to establish promotion of physical activity as a major focus of public health in the United States,” said University of South Carolina professor Dr. Russ Pate, who is also Chair of the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance. “This Call to Action draws attention to the important health benefits of physical activity, in general, and walking in particular.”

Increasing people’s physical activity level can significantly reduce their risk of chronic disease and premature death while supporting positive mental health and healthy aging.

For more information on the ACE Special Project, please contact Kelly Kavanaugh at kavanak@dhec.sc.gov.